Crocodiles

Brazilian paleontologists said this week that they had found the fossil of a new species of prehistoric predator that represented a "missing link" to modern-day crocodiles. The well-preserved fossil of Montealtosuchus arrudacamposi, a medium-size lizard-like predator measuring about 5 1/2 feet from head to tail, dates back about 80 million years to the late Cretaceous period. An agile terrestrial predator, it had different habits from today's crocodiles but was similar in form and structure, with longer limbs, scientists said.

Authorities in the Northern California town of Roseville responded to a wild call Wednesday after a 4-foot crocodile was found wandering around in a suburban shopping center. Its mouth taped shut, the stray reptile was apparently abandoned in front of a pet store near a TJ Maxx parking lot in Roseville, said police Sgt. Kelby Newton. The Nile crocodile had been left in a makeshift cage - a gray plastic tub taped shut with duct tape - but escaped, Newton said. Next to it was a note that instructed its finder to “call rescue.” The crocodile wandered past a Panera Bread restaurant and a pizza joint before stopping at a local runner's store.

Crocodiles and alligators can -- and do -- climb trees. "Climbing behavior is common among crocodilians," reads a new study in Herpetology Notes. The study includes a picture of a Mississippi gator perched on the branch of a tree . Is that a smile on its face? And there's this tidbit: "One adult dwarf crocodile escaped from its enclosure at the Bristol Zoo ... by climbing up a tree growing at an angle and then over the barrier. " IMAGES: Cute animals and animals so ugly they're cute The report comes from researchers at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville's department of psychology.

BOCA RATON, Fla. - Paddling down the Intracoastal Waterway in southern Florida, Russell Fields noticed what appeared to be a large palm leaf floating near shore. The leaf began moving toward him. A few feet from his paddleboard, a reptilian head filled with teeth emerged from the water. Fields slapped the water with his paddle, and the head stayed there for a moment and then submerged. Fields' encounter with a 10-foot American crocodile in Boca Raton has become a more common experience in Broward and Palm Beach counties, as these light gray cousins of alligators reclaim their historic range.

A crocodile ate an engineer just hours after the man arrived on a remote island off northern Australia to service telephone lines, police said Monday. A police spokeswoman said engineer Albert Juzelrunas was last seen alive Friday night on Groote Eylandt island, about 250 miles east of Darwin. A hunt began Saturday after human remains were washed up on the shore. Later, a saltwater crocodile almost 12 feet long was trapped in the ocean.

Crocodiles have a nasty reputation, but the leathery, snappish critters have been around so long that they probably gave dinosaurs a fright too. On Thursday, University of Chicago paleontologist Paul Sereno and his colleague at McGill University in Montreal, Hans Larsson, unveiled fossils of five ancient crocodile species -- nicknamed BoarCroc, RatCroc, DuckCroc, DogCroc and PancakeCroc -- that lived with and, in some cases, hunted and ate dinosaurs...

Baby crocodiles start calling to one another and their mothers just before they hatch, perhaps signaling that it is time to be born, according to a report Monday in the journal Current Biology. Researchers tested 10 crocodiles and their eggs, recording sounds the babies made. When the sounds were played back, the babies hastened to break out of their shells and eight of the mothers tried to dig up their eggs. Researchers said that many baby reptiles are eaten by predators right after birth, so it may be important for them to hatch together and for the mother to be there as they do.

Thailand Receding floodwaters after record monsoons are revealing new Bangkok residents: crocodiles. The country is a center of trafficking in exotic animals, especially crocs. Burundi The State Department has renewed its travel warning for Burundi, noting that the country's participation in peacekeeping in Somalia has made it a target of Somali terrorist organization Shabab. The World People should prepare for "unprecedented extreme weather," a new U.N. report says.

A small boat carrying remains believed to be those of a Colorado woman killed by a crocodile was attacked by another crocodile that lunged four feet out of the water and snapped at the body bag, officials said Wednesday. The boat attack came as police gave the first detailed account of Sunday's grisly crocodile killing of Fay Ginger Meadows, 24, of Snowmass Village, Colo., who was attacked at the spectacular Kings Cascade Waterfall in northwestern Australia.

Crocodiles and alligators can -- and do -- climb trees. "Climbing behavior is common among crocodilians," reads a new study in Herpetology Notes. The study includes a picture of a Mississippi gator perched on the branch of a tree . Is that a smile on its face? And there's this tidbit: "One adult dwarf crocodile escaped from its enclosure at the Bristol Zoo ... by climbing up a tree growing at an angle and then over the barrier. " IMAGES: Cute animals and animals so ugly they're cute The report comes from researchers at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville's department of psychology.

As if crocodiles and alligators weren't terrifying enough, scientists have discovered that these ancient, sharp-toothed beasts are incredibly cunning. So clever that they use lures to trap and gobble unsuspecting birds. The discovery in two crocodilian species - mugger crocodiles and American alligators - is the first report of tool use in reptiles, according to a study in the journal Ethology Ecology and Evolution. Some birds, like egrets, actually choose to nest around crocodile and alligator hangouts because they offer some protection from tree-climbing predators like raccoons, snakes and monkeys.

Linda Kozlowski Hogan, who starred with Paul Hogan in the 1986 hit "Crocodile Dundee" and its 1988 sequel before marrying her leading man in 1990, has reportedly filed for divorce. The 55-year-old actress, who is asking for her maiden name to be restored, filed papers citing irreconcilable differences and asking for spousal support and joint custody of their 15-year-old son, Chance, TMZ reported Thursday. Seems 74-year-old Paul Hogan isn't in the mood for a second ugly divorce after his 1986 split from first wife Noelene Edwards, the mother of five of his six children, whom he left for costar Kozlowski.

Chris Hemsworth and Elsa Pataky have purchased a Malibu estate from actors Paul Hogan and Linda Kozlowski for $4.8 million. The remodeled home, built in 1992 and set on an acre, has ocean views, vaulted ceilings and a library. A Victorian exterior belies the more than 6,000 square feet of contemporary interior. There are five bedrooms and six bathrooms. Hemsworth, 30, stars in the new movie "Rush. " He has starred in such films as "The Cabin in the Woods" (2012)

Police in Australia say they have recovered the body of a man who attempted to swim across a crocodile-infested river in the Northern Territory. Sean Cole, 26, from Darwin, was attending a birthday party Saturday night at the Mary River Wilderness Retreat when he and a friend decided to go for a swim, the Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported . Horrified partygoers described seeing a crocodile drag Cole under the water, then swim upstream with his body in its jaws, Northern Territory police told the broadcaster.

Members of the Wild Crocodile Skiing Club used to water-ski fearlessly on the rivers of Venezuela's Great Plains because their main nemesis, the Orinoco crocodile, was nearly extinct. But now they've put their skis away because the massive reptiles are making a comeback. Conservationists are raising baby Orinocos in captivity and releasing them into the wild to try to bring back the species.

Over the years, the exclusive Ocean Reef Club has had its share of celebrated visitors. During his presidency, Richard M. Nixon came to Key Largo to relax with pal Bebe Rebozo. President Bush and French President Francois Mitterrand met here in 1990. Vice President Dan Quayle stops by to play golf. After a day or so, those VIPs always pack up and go home. But the latest notable to call, known to some locals as Clarence, is a rare crocodile, and he seems to have no intention of leaving.

On more than one occasion, it was hard to decipher whether the Lacoste Live Coachella Music and Arts Festival party last weekend was in the middle of the desert or the Hamptons. During the two-day fete, people in bathing suits frolicked in the sun on a large lawn leading up to the private residence where the party was held. Red cardboard cutouts of the signature Lacoste crocodile peppered the walkways. Joe and Nick Jonas, Alessandra Ambrosia, Katy Perry and Chris Pine were just a few of the celebrities who made the short walk from the nearby Empire Polo Field to support the Lacoste brand and party in the sun. Alexa Chung, DJ Mom Jeans (Danny Masterson)

Crying my eyes out the morning after, I replayed over and over the events of the previous evening when Mr. Latest Flame had calmly stated that his fondness for me had flickered out. Clearly, finding love was not in the cards for me. It was the mid-'80s, and at 31, I suddenly felt old and washed up, laden by baggage heavy with broken engagements and other failed relationships and even a brief marriage. This was the last straw. Whatever hope I still entertained for finding a soul mate was extinguished, and I just felt like locking myself in the divorce-settlement Toyota with the windows rolled up and the world shut out. Like a passenger in a sinking boat, watching her life flash before her eyes, I reviewed the minutiae of every event, every conversation, every development in what I thought had been a promising new relationship over the previous couple of months.